


exit wounds

by mercurz



Category: Gloomverse (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Temporary Character Death, i guess, its sad but then its happier!, spoilers for literally the entirety of gloomverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23956396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercurz/pseuds/mercurz
Summary: Cake Girl’s words from earlier come back to Harold like a slap in the face, a final wake up call. This isn’t some overblown fantasy or empty threat- this is revenge. Revenge that fuels Cake Girl’s smirk, her maniacal laughter.Revenge that begins with the cake golem plucking Wallis’ wand from the ground as if it’s nothing.Or; the one where Cake Girl so nearly succeeds.
Relationships: Background Amadeus Gloom/Petunia Gloom, Past Wallis Gloom/Professor Purple, Wallis &.. everyone?, Wallis Gloom & Harold Gloom, Wallis Gloom & Rylie "Assistant" Biv
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. night sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ghostluu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostluu/gifts).



Before Cake Girl had even showed up, before Assistant had even admitted to her nerves, Wallis had been feeling oddly shaken up about this show.

He still doesn’t quite know where the feeling had come from- that unbearable sense of  _ fear,  _ just out of reach and yet at the same time so palpable that Wallis can almost feel it weighing down on him. It had been too easy to brush it off as pre-show nerves, the typical thoughts that he can rid away with a single glance outside at the fans waiting for him. But it had persisted long after he and Assistant were away from the mass of fans, and he supposes at that point he should’ve already been on alert.

When he sees Cake Girl- when he sees his _ brother,  _ passed out and helpless on top of that stupid golem- that feeling gets knocked out of place. Still wavering at the edge of Wallis’ vision, still something he can push back for the sake of his image, but still something manifesting itself as a dark and ugly feeling that Wallis can only hope won’t worsen. 

Fighting Cake Girl (really just her golem; she’s practically untouchable up there and Wallis  _ hates  _ it) is oddly cathartic, though his arsenal of randomly collected items weren’t hoarded with fighting in mind. Petunia is dealing with the most of it, wrapping up the golem so effortlessly that it’s hard to fathom just how enraged she’d been just a few minutes earlier. Seaweed is trying, as well, but there’s only so much water at the venue and every now and then she’ll go back and check on Assistant, just to make sure she’s safe.

Wallis feels like he should be doing something else, but he doesn’t quite know what.

In the corner of his vision, he barely registers the hand of the golem moving again. Petunia perks up quickly at the slight movement, and her eyes go wide before she darts forward. Wallis follows her gaze, feeling an odd mix of exhausted and too energetic, a type of restless that crawls uncomfortably across his skin and drags him down no matter how hard he tries to shake it off. Stupid, should’ve slept better yesterday.

Wallis’ reaction is far too delayed, and by the time he’s even managed to call out Petunia is already too far away, too close to the quickly collapsing pillar, wand thrown out before her and-

And three things happen in the next few moments.

Petunia stops the pillar from falling, saves the crowd.

A deafening _ crack _ rings out, piercing the chaos like a knife’s edge.

And Petunia crumples to the floor, motionless.

Finally that feeling gets lodged out of place, forced to the forefront of Wallis’ mind, and everything he sees is red red  _ red  _ and all he hears is Cake Girl’s laughter and in that moment he imagines a thousand different things he could do, all the ways he could make her  _ hurt  _ because that’s his  _ mom _ down there, an unmoving blur on the ground, wand cracked and-

And she could _die._

The golem gets him with a single hit.

* * *

Harold feels helpless.

He’s been fading in and out of consciousness since Cake Girl dragged him here, and the first thing he sees when properly waking up is the magic show; a blur of a crowd and the faint shape of the stage growing closer. He almost considers opening his mouth to scream or even try running, before glancing around and realising just how high up he is. There’s no way out of this, and his hat is too far away to get, tied up behind him and no doubt blocked to prevent the lemon kids escaping.

So he can only watch. Watches as his brother grows the angriest he’s ever seen him, watches as he fights the golem with Petunia and Seaweed, watches-

Watches as his own mother rushes to save the crowd, watches the realisation dawn on her face just one moment too late. Watches the pillar fall, obscuring her from view but not silencing Petunia’s pained cry or the deafening  _ crack  _ of her wand.

Watches his world screech to a halt.

Petunia becomes a blur, lost to the panicked crowd and quickly approaching medics, but Harold still keeps his gaze fixed on the spot where the pillar had fallen, as if by staring long enough he could make all of this untrue, go back to the moment he’d decided to go on that stupid walk and convince himself otherwise. The guilt is closing in on him, suffocating him and narrowing his view down to just that single spot, rewinding and replaying the moment where everything falls, where Petunia saves the crowd, where Petunia cracks her wand. And it keeps on going, focusing on all the moments where things could’ve gone different, where Petunia could’ve moved or Harold could’ve tried to escape, where-

Another, louder  _ crack  _ rings out, another pained scream that Harold  _ knows _ .

Wallis is hunched over, clutching his side with a trembling hand, the wall behind him cracking and crumbling with the force of the golem’s punch. His other hand is grasping at nothing, searching desperately amongst the rubble for-

_ His wand. _

Cake Girl’s words from earlier come back to Harold like a slap in the face, a final wake up call. This isn’t some overblown fantasy or empty threat- this is  _ revenge.  _ Revenge that fuels Cake Girl’s smirk, her maniacal laughter.

Revenge that begins with the cake golem plucking Wallis’ wand from the ground as if it’s nothing.

Harold struggles desperately against the restraints, breathing heavy but pushing back the urge to scream at Cake Girl. If he tries hard enough, he can shuffle along just slightly, but he doesn’t know how much time he has. Cake Girl is already examining Wallis’ wand with a curious look, as if she hadn’t decided just what she’s going to do long before they got here.

“I always thought it would be something special,” she muses, more to herself than anything. “I mean, you’re meant to be the _ magnificent _ Wallis Gloom, right?” Wallis says nothing. Cake Girl’s face splits into a wicked grin, and she finally moves, the sweeping movement of her arm slightly laboured. The golem follows a few moments later, Wallis’ wand looking miniature in its hand. “Not so magnificent now.” 

The golem takes Wallis’ wand and bends it at a sharp angle.

Harold hears his brother scream too clearly, even up here.

Cake Girl’s laughter is nothing but pure, crazed joy, smile a knife’s flash on her face. There’s a thought at the back of Harold’s mind- only held back by the restraints of hope that maybe Cake Girl will see what she’s doing and stop- a thought of Cake Girl’s smile slipping away, eyes wide and afraid, laughter scratched out with screams and she’s falling, falling, falling.

Harold doesn’t realise he’s been struggling against his restraints until there’s a ripping noise, and suddenly everything feels unravelled, a mess of panic and desperation and anger crashing over him in waves. Cake Girl still isn’t stopping, the golem still bending Wallis’ wand torturously slowly. Harold wonders how much more of this Wallis can take. How long he has left.

There’s a sudden shout from the ground, and Harold’s gaze follows Seaweed rushing toward Wallis (still on the floor, still folding in on himself, still  _ screaming-)  _ water beneath her feet. She’s holding something in her arms, clutching it close to her chest, movements frantic as she tries to get to him before the golem can.

Cake Girl notices. The golem’s hand slams into Seaweed’s side with another crack, throwing her against the wall.

Wallis’ hat falls out of her arms, right into the golem’s reach.

“Why thank you, Seaweed!” Cake Girl says, voice sickly sweet. The golem snatches up Wallis’ hat, dangling it in front of the stage almost mockingly. Harold can’t see Seaweed’s expression, but there’s shame in the way she can hardly raise her head to look back up. “Where’s that pathetic assistant of yours? Not that she would be able to help anyway.” it’s a cruel jab, one that makes Harold’s anger come back even stronger and his struggle increase tenfold. If he can just get through these goddamn restraints, get to the lemon kids and maybe their stupid Dark Overlord will do something  _ useful  _ for once-

Assistant runs out from behind the curtains, eyes frantic. When she spots Wallis something inaudible escapes her lips, and she lunges forward toward him only to be stopped by Seaweed, who sways as she holds an arm out. He can’t see clearly up here-  _ don’t focus on that, focus on getting your brother out of here alive-  _ but she shakes her head, almost  _ defeated.  _ For now Harold can only hope she finds her wand, wherever it’d gotten lost in the rubble.

But Assistant is screaming and Harold can barely focus.  _ “You’re killing him!”  _ she shrieks and begs and pleads for Cake Girl to stop, but the menace is a mess of maniacal laughter and skin-splitting smiles and  _ she’s killing him  _ and Wallis’ screams and Assistant’s sobs and the wand so very close to  _ snapping  _ in Cake Girl’s hand-

Harold lunges forward, finally free of the restraints, at the same time a blinding light erupts from where Wallis is curled into himself on the ground and  _ no, no- _

He doesn’t hesitate, hardly even  _ thinks _ when he shoves Cake Girl to the side, one hand up to shield himself from shrieking white. Her feet slip against the crumbling golem once, twice, and-

Harold could help. Harold could offer his hand and help her up, take sympathetic note of the cracks webbing across her skin, but there’s his brother and that bright light, and the screams that won’t stop, and in this moment he can’t find it in him to feel the slightest ounce of sympathy.

Harold meets Cake Girl’s gaze in the exact moment her form shatters in an explosion of light.

And he’s falling, and he’s falling, and the light is fading and Wallis is dead and he didn’t try hard enough to save him, could’ve been quicker or not gone on that  _ stupid walk- _

Wallis is _ dead. _

Harold lets consciousness slip away before he even hits the ground.


	2. pitch black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too little, too late.

Purple listens to the magic shows. He always does, because for all his mockery and  _ over-it  _ acts his heart will always betray him. So he sits and does his work, takes the piss out of the gimmicks as if saying it aloud could smother the warmth in his heart. Just a typical night, he supposes.

What _ isn’t  _ typical are the horrified screams that ring out from the audience hardly even five minutes into the show.

Purple jumps and drops his pen on the ground in his shock, cursing Wallis and whatever weird trick he must’ve come up with next. But the screams don’t stop. Purple frowns, pausing in his note-taking; the commentator’s voice crackles over the noise, talking about a  _ cake golem-? _

And ah, the squeaky voice that’s shrieking about revenge. The only thing Cake Girl was memorable for in the two seconds she was Wallis’ assistant is how goddamn _ annoying  _ she was- and still is, apparently. Whatever had happened to get her fired Purple hadn’t particularly cared about, though the pictures of her getting shipped off in a limo while clawing at the windows hysterically was.. interesting.

He’s just about zoning out, idly wondering about how easy of a defeat it’d be to someone like Wallis, when there’s a loud crash and the screams somehow get even louder. Purple winces, turns the radio down at the noise, then turns it back up when he can’t hear the commentator’s voice clearly enough.

“An audience member is- she, Wallis and Seaweed are fighting the golem!” the commentator exclaims;  _ Petunia.  _ Of course. That woman is downright terrifying.. but only when she needs to be. He frowns; if there’s a reason the commentator hasn’t mentioned it, and he’s silent throughout the continuous fight- Purple can just about tell from the yelling of the three fighting the golem. When he hears Wallis yell about  _ hurting his brother _ his eyes go wide. Harold? But how..

It’s at this point that Purple drops his work completely, staring at the radio as if that would manifest a better image of whatever’s going on over there. God, he really should’ve gone with Nim- and oh God, what is she even doing right now? Knowing her she’d want to save those in the audience, but she wouldn’t sacrifice her studies for that, surely…?

Purple’s snapped out of his thoughts by another scream- one from a voice he knows too well, and he frantically tries to keep up with the commentator’s talk of saving the audience when there’s a  _ crack. _

And Purple doesn’t need the commentator to confirm it. In all he’s studied he knows what that means, knows that the dead silence that follows in the next few moments is enough. The commentator is talking about it; broken wands and Petunia, she might be _ dead- _

Purple stumbles outside, thoughts frantic, as the commentator continues; “Wallis- he’s just-” but there’s another interruption- a crack and another scream, no no _ no-  _ and Purple nearly shouts in frustration before shutting himself up to listen. “The golem, it’s-  _ no..” _

“What?!” Purple screams at the radio, as if anything other than his own words is going to echo back at him. “What the fuck is  _ happening?!” _

“It- it’s picking up his wand! Oh God-”

Another scream, maniacal laughter. Purple is shocked silent, unable to so much as move, grip on the radio deathly tight. Cake Girl- no, she’s just some bitter girl, not capable of severing anyone. Surely..

But Purple’s heard Wallis cry before. Over stupid things like test scores and on nights where guilt is too heavy for him to escape and it’s the best he can do to hold him through it- but never like this. Never like this- choked-off and almost strangled, and if not for Purple’s need to know what’s going on he’d mute the very sound of it. It makes his stomach churn, ears practically ringing against it. God, he can’t-

“I think.” the commentator sounds equal parts horrified and completely defeated; “I think she’s trying to  _ sever _ him.”

And he knows _ he already knew that  _ but he can’t think can hardly process the words being said  _ he should be there,  _ should be there helping instead of just standing and spectating like an idiot and now Petunia’s hurt and Wallis is being _ tortured  _ and  _ where’s Nim, why isn’t she helping-? _

Purple falls to the ground, hands still clutching the radio. He makes no effort to disguise his sobs and the radio won’t shut up,  _ shut up  _ and there’s shrieking and laughter and he knows Wallis’ wand is  _ breaking _ and he’s helpless to stop it-

There’s a loud _ boom.  _ The commentator screams something inaudible, and the radio breaks into dead static.

For a moment, it’s all Purple can do to sit there, shaking. The sound echos in his ear even as the radio clatters to the ground. He didn’t know what he was expecting, really; some magic solution to fix everything? For Nim to show up and make everything okay?

No. Wallis is dead.  _ Murdered.  _ And god, there’s so much he should’ve said to him, too many apologies he should’ve made and never did. And now he never  _ can.  _ Wallis is dead and Wallis thinks Purple hates him, and that’s never going to change because he’s  _ gone. _

“I’m sorry.” he mouths to the sky.

Nothing changes. The world keeps turning.

Too little, too late.

* * *

Rylie doesn’t get to stick around for long. There’s a woman with- cloud hair?- saying something to her, frantically ushering her toward backstage and a man with her, Harold’s limp form slung over his shoulder. At least he’s alright…

But Wallis. And Petunia. She tries so very hard not to think about either of them right now, mind swimming with too many thoughts and sight blurry as she follows the woman. But that blinding light, the noise and the  _ screams- _

Rylie lurches forward, vomiting onto the grass (and when had they gotten outside?) The cloud-haired woman pats her on the back, but she hardly feels the comfort she’d probably intended. Because God, she’s just watched Wallis and Petunia get killed, and Cake Girl- god knows what she’s doing right now. Probably  _ celebrating,  _ but-

“Where’s Seaweed?!” she rushes out; what if Cake Girl wasn’t going to stop at Wallis? What if she’d kill all his friends, leave noone behind to remember him-?

“Hold on!” Rylie doesn’t even realise she’s moving back toward the building until she feels the woman pulling her back. “Your friend.. she should be alright. You can’t go back in there, it’s too dangerous.” Rylie almost moves to leave again, but something in her falters; shudders and breaks. She falls to her knees, breath coming in too fast. Seaweed, Wallis, Petunia.

She couldn’t do a thing.  _ Useless. _

“Um.. excuse me?” the woman is back again, hands clasped nervously behind her back. Up close, she looks.. oddly familiar. “What’s your name?”

“Rylie,” she chokes out and almost laughs, because she never got to tell Wallis that, did she. He’s dead and to him she’ll always have been just  _ Assistant.  _ “My name is _ Rylie.” _

“Right, Rylie..” her gaze shifts to the man next to her; he’s pretending not to listen in on their conversation. “Do you have anywhere to go..?”

“My parents kicked me out and the only man keeping a roof over my head just  _ died _ in there.” she hisses in reply, and hardly has the heart to feel bad when the woman flinches in response. “So no, I don’t. Unless you happen to know if Seaweed’s dead or not.”

“I..” the woman reaches a hand out but falters. “I’m sorry, I really don’t know. We got you out before the rubble could crush you.” and she should feel thankful, she knows, but all she can think is another person she couldn’t save. Useless useless  _ useless. _

The woman shakes her head and with a flick of her hand the cloud hair is gone; it’s that blonde woman from earlier in the show, when she and Wallis were entering.. god, she wishes that the cringeworthy ‘motivation’ she’d given were the worst of her worries right now.

“My name’s Nim.” the woman says quietly, as if she’s afraid Rylie will break at a single wrong word. And she wouldn’t be wrong; Rylie feels exhausted, just a step away from shattering here on the ground, crouched in the grass like an _ idiot.  _ If Wallis could see her now..

Nim’s awkwardly silent upon getting no response, so she continues slowly; “Um, my friend- Professor Purple?” she vaguely recalls that name, doesn’t quite have the strength to remember why. “He and Wallis- were close. I don’t think he’d mind if you needed to, um.. stay with us at the ruins for a while..?” something odd passes over Nim’s expression, but it’s gone in an instant.

And normally the whole  _ close _ thing would intrigue her- hell, they’d practically been at each other’s  _ throats  _ during Petunia’s birthday- but Rylie just sits there, her tired (so, so  _ tired) _ mind trying to catch up with things.

“No.” she says simply, almost instinctively. Not until they find Seaweed and Petunia, not until they find whatever’s left of Wallis. She’s let them down enough already; leaving them behind now would be the final nail in the coffin.

Nim nods slowly, gaze casting to the side. “Would you.. like us to wait with you? We can’t go back in yet, but..” And she almost says no, that she doesn’t want to spend this time with some _ strangers.  _ But she’s got noone else right now, has she? And Harold’s still unconscious, Seaweed and Wallis and Petunia still trapped in the building.

The lack of company would be worse. So, hesitantly, she nods.

And finally,  _ finally,  _ Rylie lets her head fall back against the floor, closing her eyes against the blaring of ambulances in the distance.

* * *

Amadeus knows this isn’t how things should’ve gone.

From the moment the first surprised yell comes from the audience he knows this is wrong, wrong  _ wrong.  _ When Petunia and Wallis both fall he knows. Maybe if he’d taken up Wallis’ offer on attending the show, sucked up his pride at letting Petunia see him after so long. God, maybe if he’d realised that the discomfort in his head was more than just  _ that. _

Amadeus has lived a long time. He knows  _ maybes _ are useless, that death is always going to  _ happen _ and that the world won’t change for all he’s tried to fix what he’s done. But that doesn’t stop him from wondering, a frazzled mess of what-ifs jumbled up into scenarios where it could’ve been different. What if he’d stepped in somehow, what if the lemon kids had gotten to him sooner (by the time they do, it’s already halfway through the never ending flood of screams and sharp laughter.) 

..What if he’d been there for them from the start. Like he should have been all along.

Amadeus shakes his head, fixes his scarf and turns off the radio. The silence makes his sobs shriek against the walls.

* * *

Indigo.. well, Indigo doesn’t _ know. _

One minute he’s stood by the window, grinning with the knowledge that’ll end Wallis Gloom’s career once and for all, and the second he’s being knocked back by a blast that seems to reach even the backstage area.

He knows what that means. His line of work isn’t particularly peaceful, and while  _ that’s _ a part of it he’s never felt particularly inclined toward doing.. it’s necessary, sometimes. In short; someone just died out there, and Indigo knows better than to stick around. 

That is, until, a second larger blast hits; and then he’s just plain confused. Professional as he tries to be, a part of him is still that curious asshole that can’t keep his nose out of things. Surely just one look wouldn’t hurt? The guard must’ve been passed out by now, and after all, more information on the magic show would be good for Prez, right..?

So, Indigo slips out of the room, walking right up to the curtains of the stage. And what he sees..

The place is a wreck. Rubble is scattered where there used to be seats, pillars tipped over and shattered on the ground. The place is smothered in smoke and dust, so much so that he has to squint to get the barest idea of where he even _ is. _ He’s on the stage; the area that has somehow seen the least damage aside from a crack in the wall.

He waves a hand at the smoke and it clears, just slightly, and he makes his way forward again, steps cautious. He doubts that there’s anyone here at this point; though he has to wonder what kind of fight led to this… He coughs, winces and covers his mouth with his sleeve as he continues on; there’s.. icing splattered on one of the pillars? And is that  _ cake?  _ Curiosity piqued, he strides toward the sight, swift but silent-

And catches sight of a blurred, green-haired figure before losing his footing and  _ falling. _

* * *

_ Assistant- where’s Assistant? _

Seaweed lurches out of the water- she’d jumped in almost instinctively when the place had started crumbling- and takes a few heaving breaths. Alright- stay calm, find Assistant and  _ get out of here. _

She stumbles on trembling legs, holding her soaked and thoroughly-ripped veil to her mouth to combat the smoke rising from the rubble- and  _ god, _ there’s so much of it. Her auditorium is reduced to collapsed pillars and crushed walls, a mess of what had once been so beautiful. God- what is she doing, focusing on her goddamn aquarium over  _ this?  _ She’s lost worse today.

She almost doesn’t want to look, in fear of what she’ll find. Petunia had been taken by the medics long before, but she’d already cracked her wand.. Seaweed shudders. She probably doesn’t even know what happened to-

_ Wallis.  _ Just the thought of his name sends fear shuddering through her once again. There had been two explosions before the cake golem crumbled. As much as she wishes for it to be anything but, she knows what that means.  _ Two _ severings.

She finds her wand flung behind a row of destroyed seats- stupid, she could’ve gotten to it during the show- and begins looking. Hovering on what little water she can manage right now in her weakened state, Seaweed glides over the rubble. She can’t keep this up for long, so the search will have to be quick- but finding what’s left of him is the least she can do.

She hears a crash and whips around- _ surely, he can’t be-  _ but her optimism is crushed by the figure she sees flailing down from the stage and- truly, she can’t bring it in her to care.  _ Get to Wallis. Get out of here.  _ It’s all she can do to hope that Assistant got out of here alright.

Seaweed continues over the rubble, but the hold on her magic is slipping. And she’s not stupid, not like Cake Girl was- she sighs, shakes her head and lets water seep between the cracks in the floor. She’s exhausted, feels about ready to collapse, but if she lets him go she’s not going to forgive herself.

(Not as if she could, not after  _ this-) _

Suddenly, she trips over a stray rock, ankle crunching at an odd angle and  _ fuck, that hurts.  _ Stumbling once more, one hand scrambling for support, she shakes her head against the tears springing to her eyes. No, no, this isn’t what she’ll cry for.

Her gaze drifts to the floor, eyelids flickering shut- she’s so, so _ tired.  _ But she thinks of Wallis, of Petunia who might have to wake without even a body to mourn over, and shakes her head with gritted teeth. Her ankle is screaming at her, all her muscles heavy with bone-deep exhaustion, mind swimming with overwhelming emotions and yet she doesn’t feel fully  _ there;  _ everything fuzzy and filtered.

Something pokes her bad foot and she cries out in pain- before looking down at what it is.

No.  _ No.  _ There’s a wand, right at the edge of a crater, and-

Seaweed can only let out a relieved, shocked sob before collapsing beside the space-struck body of her best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonk chapter two talk to me on tumblr @sealie byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

**Author's Note:**

> wahay i finally posted this thing! i've literally been working on it for. a year and its not done despite being 6 chapters max but HEY
> 
> pls note this entire chapter was written a whole year ago, it might not be the best and the later chapters are way better <3
> 
> talk to me on tumblr @sealie !!


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